Drumsticks are rod-like musical implements which are used to beat drums and other percussion instruments in order to produce particular kinds of sounds; and typically are struck by the player in accordance with a certain timing or rhythm to produce a desired frequency or speed of sounds.
There are many known types of drumsticks which vary from beaters, to mallets, to brushes. Although different types of objects to beat drums have existed for centuries, drumsticks as we know them today have only been made for five or six decades. Unfortunately, for many years, drum sticks have had multiple major flaws. For instance, they often became warped, were weighted disproportionately, frequently splintered during use, and cracked easily.
A variety of drumstick improvements have been made which overcome many of these major structural flaws; and the quality of drumsticks has dramatically improved in recent years. Some of these improvements are represented and exemplified in the reported patent literature by the following:
(i) U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,671 discloses a stick type drumstick which achieves improved percussive resonance and tonal qualities while retaining the rigidity required for the reverberation desired in loud drum passages. The improved stick drumstick includes a bundle of elongated, substantially straight wooden rods, which are preferably round hardwood rods such as dowels. The bundle is assembled with longitudinal axes parallel and bound or banded tightly together (as by a rigid plastic tape) for a relatively short span at a location spaced from but relatively closer to the playing or beating end. The rods at the handle end of the bundle are also retained tightly together. A sleeve or overlay retainer may then be applied over the drumstick from the handle end as far as the place where the rods are bound toward the playing end. The combination of the binding of the rods at a span spaced from the beating end and binding the other end at the handle yields a stick type drumstick which has the desired percussive strength, yet it is slightly flexible so that the combination including the interaction of the wooden rods among themselves when a drum is struck yields extraordinarily good tonal qualities.
(ii) U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,527 discloses brush type drum beaters which comprise a bundle or cluster of similar wooden rods firmly secured together at one end to provide a handle and a precisely balanced beater. The remaining portion of the rods are free of restraint and generally uniformly grouped about the axis of the instrument, while the free ends of the rods are relatively closely spaced apart and engagable with the surface of the percussion instrument or with an adjacent rod or rods. Preferably, the rods are of uniform cross section and very substantially larger in section than the filaments of prior brush type drum beaters. These brush type drum beaters are highly resistant to bending, flexing, whipping and injury from use or handling, and the individual rods have very substantial resistance to flexing and strongly resist bending, twisting or breakage and can readily withstand rough usage in use as well as in handling.
(iii) U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,958 discloses a multi-dowel drumstick which has a sheath disposed around the dowels to protect the dowels from damage during use. The sheath typically comprises strips made from an impact resistant polymer which add to the tonal qualities of the multi-dowel drumstick while protecting the dowels. In addition, the multi-dowel drumstick is a percussive which can provide sound without having to strike either a drum surface or cymbal—i.e., the multi-dowel drumstick of the present invention acts as a sound effect device similar to castanets.
(iv) U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,077 discloses a percussion implement comprised of a bundle of a plurality of cylindrically-shaped rod members having outer rod members symmetrically positioned about a like-sized inner rod member held at one end. The bundle of rod members lies in a close-packed relationship with a handle member; and with a movable sleeve member which is positioned about the closely-packed bundle of rod members remote from the handle member and is capable of manual axial movement thereabout to any position of the bundle of rod members, to thereby achieve different sound quality and effects.
(v) U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,260 discloses a drumstick having an adjustable weight system which comprises an elongated hollow tube of specific length that is open at its butt end, and which lies adjacent its tip end and tapers to a bulbous tip end of selected design. The drumstick is symmetrical about a longitudinal axis and is provided at its distal tip end with a small bore that communicates with the larger hollow interior of the drumstick. Mounted within the hollow interior of the drumstick is an elongated threaded spindle that extends nearly the entire length of the drumstick. Adjustably mounted on the threaded spindle (at a selected location that suits the drummer), are one or more discrete weights—each of which weighs exactly the same amount as all the other weights. The weights are locked in position between a pair lock members mounted on the spindle. A damper member is provided in the tip-end of the hollow drumstick; and a plurality of annular silencers are spaced along the length of the threaded spindle to retain the threaded spindle axially aligned within the hollow drumstick. A retainer plug mounted on the proximal end of the threaded spindle is press-fitted into the open butt end of the drumstick to retain the adjustable weight assembly system within the drumstick.
(vi) U.S. Pat. No. 7,084,339 discloses a stick type drumstick which includes a plurality of elongated reasonably straight wooden rods formed around a central foam core. The central foam core is comprised of a larger diameter sized wooden rod, shorter in length and having attached to one end a foam rod of the same diameter. The plurality of rods which match the length of the central foam core are placed around its outside diameter; and a retaining sleeve is securely fitted over the gripping end creating a handle. At the opposite or playing end, an additional retaining sleeve shorter in length is secured slightly back from playing end to allow some flexibility for the outer rods, but not allowing them to spread or splay allowing the foam core to slide out of position.
(vii) U.S. Pat. No. 7,538,264 discloses an ergonomic durable drumstick comprising a tapered substantially hollow percussion member having a distal end and a proximal end; a tubular body formed with a chamber monolithically extending from the proximal end which has a circumference less than the circumference of the proximal end of the tapered substantially hollow percussion member; and a plug having a circular cross-section formed with a conical leading end monolithically extending from the distal end of the tapered substantially hollow percussion member, wherein the plug includes a plurality of annular rings protruding from the outer surface of the plug between the conical leading end. The distal end of the percussion member is adapted to fixedly engage a drumhead contact tip; and a drumhead contact tip formed with a hollow bore (having a closed end and an open end) is adapted to receive the plug.
(viii) United States Patent Application Serial No. 2006/0027073 discloses an ergonomic drumstick having a plurality of rings which form ridges configured to circumferentially encompass a drumstick, the plurality of rings being located non-equidistant from each other on the drumstick such that the rings ergonomically conform to the grip of a hand. The rings are made of a softer material than the drumstick to provide comfort for the hand; and the drumstick grip may be adjustable to provide greater comfort to the drummer's hand.